Imaginary Preschool Cults
A few times per year, I dream about a preschool that doesn’t exist. Or if it does exist, it’s so deeply buried in my memory that it might as well not be real at all. The preschool isn’t your typical preschool; it instead feels sort of like some sort of fringe religious indoctrination program. Each time I have the dream, there is another surreal element introduced. And you probably won’t believe it, but every time I wake from the dream, I have the same stale, musky taste in my mouth. A taste that is unique to this particular dream.
Last night’s version was unique because instead of being a student at the school, I was returning to see former teachers and offer a pep talk to current students. The whole experience was oddly normal except for what we were all wearing. It’s too odd even to put into words, but I’ll do my best. We all seemed to be decked out in the same set of belts; that’s the closest description I can think of. And these belts circled our bodies from head to toe.
Something is different about this dream. It feels like a repressed memory, even though I know I was never a part of a cultish fringe preschool program. Oddly, elements of cult-like experiences pop up in my dreams quite often. I have another similar dream where I’m reading or watching children’s cult-like media. They are profoundly disturbing in a way that’s hard to describe, mostly because they seem so harmless in a way, but have such a sinister undertone.